How to Wash Without Running Water

If the taps stop, the first thing to protect is your hands. Fill a large clean bowl, such as a washing up bowl, with water and add some soap or a household disinfectant, and wash your hands from that rather than under a running tap¹. Keeping water use to a minimum will prolong whatever alternative supply you have, whether that is a tank, a bowser or bottles².

Next, separate your water into two jobs. Bottled or alternative supplies should be used solely for drinking, washing your hands and food preparation while the mains are off¹. Water for washing bodies, dishes and clothes comes second, and can often be water you have already used once. Save the water from cooking and washing up for flushing the toilet³.

Then check where help is coming from. If you have no water, or have been asked not to use your water for an extended period, your water company may set up bottled water collection points, notified by text, call, social media and local press⁴. If getting to one would be difficult, the Priority Services Register can arrange an emergency water supply delivered to your home⁵.

Washing when the taps stop: what to do first

The order matters more than the method. Before you think about a full wash, secure your drinking water and your handwashing water, because those two protect health while everything else can wait a day or two.

If the interruption follows a leak or a burst, the first action is to turn off all water at the stop tap, sometimes called the stopcock⁸. Once you have turned it off, run cold taps and flush toilets to help drain your plumbing system more quickly⁹. That protects the property, and it also means any water still sitting in the pipes is accounted for rather than left to cause damage.

Then set up a washing station. A washing up bowl of water with soap or household disinfectant by the kitchen sink is the core of it². Keep a second bowl or bucket for used water destined for the toilet⁶. If you have bottled water, keep it physically separate from the washing bowl so nobody mistakes one for the other.

Keeping hands clean with little or no water

Handwashing is the single most useful hygiene habit in an outage. Washing your hands with soap and water is one of the easiest ways to protect yourself and others from illnesses such as food poisoning, diarrhoea, flu and coronavirus¹⁰. Wash frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or use hand sanitiser if soap and water are not available⁷.

When there is no running water, the bowl method replaces the tap. Fill a large clean bowl with water and add some soap or a household disinfectant, and keep water usage to a minimum to prolong alternative sources such as water tanks². Pour a little over your hands, rub for at least 20 seconds, and let the used water fall into a second bowl rather than back into the clean one.

Hand sanitiser has a specific job and a limit. It can be used to clean hands that are not visibly dirty if you do not have immediate access to soap and water⁷. If hands are visibly dirty, or have been handling food, soil or flood water, soap and water is the method to use.

Wet wipes and gels cover the gaps. If you have no running water, you can use alcohol gels or wet wipes to clean hands before handling food¹¹. Hand sanitisers, baby or biodegradable wet wipes, or soap without water can be used to wash your hands¹². For anyone who is immobile, wet wipes and hand gel belong in a grab bag so cleaning hands does not depend on reaching a basin¹³.

A full wash from a bowl or bucket

A strip wash from a bowl is the practical answer for bodies, and it needs less water than a shower or bath. Use a washing up bowl rather than running a tap, and reduce shower time when the supply returns¹⁴. The same principle applies during an outage: a small bowl of warm water, a flannel and soap will keep a person clean without using a tank.

Work from clean to dirty. Wash the face and hands first, then the body, then feet, changing the water if it becomes visibly soiled. Keep a separate bowl or basin for dishes so that food residue and body washing do not share water. Wash dishes in a basin or bowl rather than under a running tap¹⁵.

For dishes, the Scottish food safety guidance is explicit: thoroughly clean all surfaces, equipment, crockery, cutlery and utensils in hot, soapy water, or use antibacterial spray or surface wipes if there is no access to clean water¹¹. That covers the situation where the taps are off but you still need to prepare food.

Cloudy water is not automatically a problem. If tap water looks white or milky, it is often because air comes out of solution as tiny bubbles when pressure is released by turning on a tap, and the cloudiness clears from the bottom of a glass upwards¹⁶. That is a different matter from water that is discoloured or smells, which is covered on our page about brown or discoloured tap water.

Water for washing: keep it separate from drinking water

The most important rule in an outage is that drinking water and washing water are different categories, stored and used separately. While there is no mains water supply, use alternative water supplies such as bottled water solely for drinking, washing your hands and food preparation¹. That is a narrow list, and it deliberately excludes bathing, laundry and dishes.

Everything else can come from water you have already used or from supplies not intended for drinking. Save the water used for cooking and washing up for flushing the toilet⁶. Water used to wash vegetables can go on the garden or into the toilet rather than down the drain. Take showers instead of baths, turn taps off when brushing teeth, wash the car with a bucket not a hose, and re-use bath water where you can¹⁷. Not leaving taps running when cleaning teeth or washing vegetables is one of the simplest savings¹⁸.

Keep the two supplies physically apart. Store bottled drinking water in one place and label any container of washing water clearly. Never fill a drinking bottle from a bowl that has held soap, dishes or body washing. If you are unsure whether a supply is safe, treat it as washing water only and check our guide to do not drink and do not use notices.

Where washing water must never come from

Some water is never washing water, however short the supply. Flood water is the clearest case: it can carry contamination, and it should not be used on skin, dishes or clothes. The same caution applies to any water of unknown origin.

There is also a hidden route by which washing appliances can contaminate drinking water. All connections should include a non-return valve so that water standing in the hoses does not get drawn back into your drinking water²⁰. If you are using a hosepipe, a washing machine connection or any appliance fed from the mains during an incident, that valve is what stops dirty water siphoning back into the supply you drink from.

That advice matters more during an outage, not less. A house with no water may have buckets, bowls and wet floors about, and a fire started by an unattended appliance in those conditions is harder to escape. Keep the washing machine and dishwasher off unless you are there to watch them.

Washing babies, children and clothes

Children need a different approach because they swallow water. If your water is not safe to drink, it is best not to use it to bath small children, because they may drink some of it. Use bottled water or baby wipes for a quick wash⁶. It is safe to use baby wipes for hand cleansing and keeping children clean¹⁹. If the drinking water is unsafe, do not use it to wash children; use tanker or bottled water¹⁹.

Feeding has its own rule. If you do not have gas or electricity to allow boiling, use unboiled bottled water (table, spring or mineral water) to make a baby feed, but you must give the feed to the baby immediately¹⁹. Our page on babies and formula feeds when the supply is off or unsafe covers the detail.

Hair is easier than it sounds. Dry or no-wash shampoo can be used to wash your hair until your supply returns¹². If you are washing hair with a small amount of water, use simple soap or a mild shampoo, and do not use conditioner in a contamination incident, as it can bind contamination to hair²⁵.

Clothes can wait for a short outage, but not after flooding. Wash clothes, bedding and soft toys using a hot machine wash at 60°C or as per the manufacturer's instructions²⁶. When the machine is running again, washing at lower temperatures will lower your energy usage²⁷, and only use the washing machine and dishwasher if you have a full load, using the eco mode if available, which uses less water and saves energy²⁸.

Help during a supply interruption and priority services

You are not expected to manage alone. Water companies plan for interruptions and provide help, and the Priority Services Register is the route to it. It is a free service providing extra advice and support, including when there is an interruption to your electricity, gas or water supply⁵. It can help you, the people you live with, or anyone you know who might need a bit of extra support during a supply interruption²⁹.

What the register gives you is practical. Support may include access to bottled water during a water supply interruption, priority assistance, and tailored support if there is a power or gas outage³⁰. For water specifically, you can register for the water company to deliver an emergency supply of water in the event of supplies being unexpectedly interrupted if you would find it difficult to get to a collection point, and you do not have to wait for your supply to be interrupted to register³¹. It also covers an emergency water supply if you have no water and cannot get to a collection point or need it for medical reasons³¹.

If you are not on the register, bottled water stations are the fallback. If you have no water, or the company has asked you not to use your water for an extended period, it may provide bottled water collection points at various locations, notified by text, call, social media and local press⁴. Companies also set up water stations in the area during a supply interruption²⁹. Our page on where bottled water stations are set up explains what to expect.

For the wider picture of how companies respond, see how water companies respond to a major incident, and for the household checklist that goes with this page, see the supply interruption checklist.